Obama orders review of crashers

President Barack Obama has ordered a full review into how a Virginia couple managed to make their way into the White House for last week's state dinner without an invitation, even getting so far as to meet the president in the official receiving line, according to a White House official.

Three days after a pair of Virginia socialites and reality TV wannabes crashed the administration's first state dinner, the White House acknowledged for the first time Friday that they met Obama himself at the event – raising even more questions about whether the breach could have posed a security risk.

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“The men and women of the Secret Service put their lives on the line everyday to protect us, they are heroes and they have the full confidence of the President of United States,” said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro in a statement issued Friday evening. “The White House asked the United States Secret Service to do a full review and they are doing that. The United States Secret Service said they made a mistake and they are taking action to identify exactly what happened and they will take the appropriate measures pending the results of their investigation.”

The White House and the U.S. Secret Service offered few details about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi, managed to end up in the receiving line.

So far, findings have revealed a breakdown at one of the security checkpoints, according to an agent, and criminal charges against the Salahis are still a possibility, according to authorities.

On Friday, according to several reports, Secret Service agents visited a Virginia winery owned by the Tareq Salahi's parents, who agents spoke with. The couple, who live in Front Royal, was not there.

A woman who answered the phone at the winery in Hume, Va., refused to comment about the visit.

The couple initially boasted of their exploits on their Facebook page – where they posted pictures of themselves with Vice President Joe Biden and other dignitaries at the event.

The Salahis, aspiring reality television stars who pulled off what appears to be a state dinner first, will tell their side of the story on Monday during a sit-down with CNN's Larry King Live.

Their lawyer, Paul W. Gardner posted a message to the couple's Facebook page saying that his clients were cleared in by the White House.

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said that there is nothing in the investigation so far to indicate that the couple, who was trailed by a crew from Bravo’s reality TV show, "Real Housewives" for much of the day, was waved in by the White House.

"The Secret Service is deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner on Tuesday, November 24. The preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list," said Secret Service Director, Mark Sullivan. "Although these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of screening, they should have been prohibited from entering the event entirely. That failing is ours."

Further details about the extent of that failing are expected to be released sometime next week, according to Mackin.